Wholesale Question who to trust??

[Mikey Cas]

Hey guys, I recently came across a property that was for sale by owner, in an excellent neighborhood, and it needs a lot of work, but could be a gold mine for the right investor. I have some investors lined up, got some solid comps ready, I am just a little confused on how to flip the contract. The price is in the $400,000s, and I read online that i can put some money in an escrow account maybe $4000(the article said as little as possible)? and then assign the contract to my investor for a profit. I just got off the phone with a real estate lawyer and he told me I would need to put down 10% at least which is 40,000. Is this true, and should I tell the seller of the home my intentions before going into this? Or should I be a bird dogger and assign a fee to an investor for the property without me going into contract? But who is to say the investor wont screw me over and once he gets the address to look at the property he just closes and says he doesnt know who i am lol. I would have to sign a contract for bird dog agreement before I disclose the address to potential investor? Thanks for any help It would be greatly appreciated! Hoping to get this deal going.